Japanese Language Grammar nagara – ながら

Japanese Language Grammar Pattern nagara 「ながら」

In this article, we will discuss the following pattern of Japanese Language Grammar Pattern ‘nagara’. The pattern, the translation and also example in form of a sentence using the grammar pattern.

Japanese Grammar Pattern      :

Kanji	:	…	＋	動詞「連用形」	＋	ながら	＋	…
Hiragana	:	…	＋	どうし「れんようけい」	＋	ながら	＋	…
Romaji	:	…	＋	doushi [renyoukei]	＋	nagara	＋	…
Meaning	:	…	＋	verb [renyou form]	＋	particle nagara	＋	…

Translation             :

1.	doing another thing	+	while	+	doing something thing
2.	while doing something	+	do	+	another thing
3.	doing two actions at the same time
4.	any other translations which is describing the plan, intention of someone to do something which is described in the verb.

It is the pattern of Japanese language grammar of ‘nagara’. It is used to express two activities done in the same time. Below is the pattern :

Based on the above example :

Kanji	:	…	＋	暗記（し）	＋	ながら	＋	…
Hiragana	:	…	＋	あんき（し）	＋	ながら	＋	…
Romaji	:	…	＋	anki（shi）	＋	nagara	＋	…
Meaning	:	…	＋	Memorize	＋	while	＋	…

For an example :

Kanji            : 漢字を暗記（し）ながらコーヒーを飲みます。

Hiragana    : かんじをあんき（し）ながらコーヒーをのみます。

Romaji        : kanji wo anki (shi) nagara ko-hi- wo nomimasu.

Meaning     : I drink coffee while memorizing kanji letter.

Basically two activities done in the same time, the first one is drinking coffee and the other one is memorizing kanji letter.

Some lesson point out that the two actions are important without any higher priority whatsoever. On the other hand, some lesson explicitly show that one activity become the main focus while the other is just less important activity.

As point out in the above example, the main activity is the one placed before nagara or the verb which is attached with the nagara pattern. But on the other hand, another lesson told that the main activity is the one placed after the nagara pattern.

About this debate, it will be put aside to focus on that Japanese language grammar pattern ‘nagara’ is the grammar pattern used to express two activities done in a same time.